Feral cat and illness - advice needed!

jeanw

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Need y'all's advice and input.

I care for a colony of 40 +/- feral cats and have for 4 years now. It's a lot in so many ways.

Many of the cats have warmed up to me and now are more like my outdoor pets. I've taken in 9 of them when they've been ill or injured and gotten them the vet care needed and they've become inside kitties. I want to take in more but not sure I can.

My question for today is one of the cats - probably maybe 2 yo or so - disappeared for quite a long time but has come back in recent months, now more terrified of me than ever before and runs away from me. She has recently become ill with what appears to be the worst upper respiratory infection I've ever seen and apparently a massive flea infection as well. She has let me feed her a little bit in the last 3 or 4 days but is getting sicker. I can't touch her as she runs away. When I looked at her yesterday I thought she is the definition of suffering.

Trying to trap her would be massively difficult because the chances of catching the wrong cat are extremely high. I've never done this ever before but I gave her a very small amount of antibiotic from one of my house cats in her food yesterday. It's unlikely anything I do can worse her situation at this point.

I know ferals and heartbreak go together but it's awful to observe. Suggestions, ideas and advice welcome.
 

poolcat

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Do you think a drop trap would allow you to catch this cat? I've never used one, but my understanding is that it allows you to release the trap when the cat you want is in (under?) it.
 
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jeanw

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Do you think a drop trap would allow you to catch this cat? I've never used one, but my understanding is that it allows you to release the trap when the cat you want is in (under?) it.
poolcat poolcat , I don't know. The place where I feed the cats is 7 miles from where I live. I would have to stay here for ?? all day and all night?? until the right cat went in. With 40 cats in the colony, there could be a lot of trial and error. Thank you for telling me though.

The sick kitty did not show up today to be fed and may have gone off to die. It could barely eat a bite yesterday. But I've thought that before and it did show up so I guess we'll see.

It's difficult and heartbreaking. I find that the resources seem to mostly be about TNR which IS important but there are so many other components to caring for feral cats.
 

iPappy

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I don't think so. Maybe tomorrow. As sick as it is, it can still get away from me but less so today. I will give it some more thought.
I am so sorry. Trying to treat a sick feral is not for the faint of heart, and thank you for helping her the best you can. :hugs:
Is she still eating at all, do you know?
Does your vet know your work with the ferals? Are they someone you could talk to on what to try next?
 

Furballsmom

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This idea is thanks to K Kflowers , -- there are rose gloves that go partway up the arm and are very helpful when dealing with bitey frightened cats. I think Tractor Supply has them etc, and they might also be available on amazon.

I totally agree, thank you so much for everything you're doing for these cats :vibes::grouphug2:

Also, considering how expensive everything is there might be something here from the Humane Society even if just a one-time (be sure and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page):

Are you having trouble affording your pet?

Additionally, I don't know if you have a costco or sams close by where you have a membership or could get one, or know someone who already does, where you could do bulk cat food purchases? Tractor Supply is another possibility for less expensive cat food.
 
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jeanw

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I am so sorry. Trying to treat a sick feral is not for the faint of heart, and thank you for helping her the best you can. :hugs:
Is she still eating at all, do you know?
Does your vet know your work with the ferals? Are they someone you could talk to on what to try next?
I don't believe she's eating today and ate just a very tiny amount yesterday as far as I know. But I'm only there for maybe an hour which leaves 23 hours that I have no idea what happens.

My vet works with ferals as all the cats I've brought to her are ferals. I will see what they say.
 

iPappy

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I don't believe she's eating today and ate just a very tiny amount yesterday as far as I know. But I'm only there for maybe an hour which leaves 23 hours that I have no idea what happens.

My vet works with ferals as all the cats I've brought to her are ferals. I will see what they say.
If you manage to get some pictures of her, I'd send them to the vet too so they can see how bad she is.
I tend to break out the tuna in situations like this, the stinkier food the better. If the vet is able to get you something for her, stinky food will come in very handy getting anything into her.
 

Norachan

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J jeanw Do you have a regular Humane Trap for doing TNR? Or can you get one?

When you want to catch one specific cat in a colony you can do so with the plastic bottle trick. Use the trap as you normally would but instead of setting it to spring when a cat steps on the plate, prop the door open with a large plastic bottle. The bottle needs to be full as it needs to have some weight to it. You tie a long length of rope around the bottle and when the cat you want to trap goes in pull the rope, jerk the bottle away and the trap door will shut.

Practice a few times at home so you know how much force to use when you pull the rope, the best place to tie the rope and set the bottle etc.

A few other tricks that have worked for me when trapping wary cats:

Cut a sheet of cardboard to size to line the bottom of the trap (Make sure the door still shuts with the cardboard in the bottom of the trap.) or Put some straw in the bottom of the trap so the cats can't feel the wire under their paws.
Get some Asian Fish sauce, dilute it with water and spray the inside of the trap. It smells really strong and even sick cats are interested in it.
Use KFC as bait. The hot chicken smell is very tempting for them
 

Sarthur2

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Can you continue to put antibiotics in her food? Which one do you use? Amoxicillin or clavamox work well; so does Azithromycin. I know you said she is barely eating anything, so it may be wasted.

Is she getting sick enough to where you might be able to catch her in a net? Not ideal, but it could work.

Thank you for trying and caring!
 
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